Nowadays, the magazines are obsessed with what you do on the gym floor, so much so that they tend to include booklets of all of the perfect exercises you should be turning to. Well, we’re not about to follow suit.

Instead, we are going to take a look at what you should be doing as soon as you say goodbye to the gym floor. As soon as most of us reach the locker, we don’t turn back. We don’t think about how our body is going to react and instead, see the hard work as being completely over.

While it’s true that the hard work might be over, that doesn’t mean to say that you don’t need to carefully consider your post-gym steps. Get these wrong and the workout you have just engaged in might be in complete tatters. Get them right, and you can supercharge your progress.

Following on from the above, let’s take a look at five common mistakes that are made when you return home from your workout.

Mistake #1 – You stay in your sweaty clothes

This is one of those mistakes that nobody will admit to making, but unfortunately it’s very true for a lot of people. While some of us can’t wait to rid ourselves of the sweat-drenched clothes that we have been exercising in, others are happy to keep them on.

Well, suffice to say, this is asking for problems. From a general hygiene perspective, sweat is something that attracts all sorts of nasty bacteria’s and naturally, this is something that you should look to avoid whenever possible. Something that a lot of people don’t realize is that sweat can create a chill on your body, and once this happens it’s very difficult to shake off.

For those of you who don’t have time, or even the facilities, to have a shower immediately after your session – fear not. All this piece of advice is focusing around is the clothes themselves. If you can change your clothes, socks and shoes, you will at least keep your muscles warm and loose – both of which can help substantially when it comes to their development.

On the subject of changing your shoes, you should always make sure you put on something that provides adequate support to your feet, for the simple reason that they require some TLC after being put under so much stress through the course of your workout.

Mistake #2 – You don’t have respect for your body

This is a fairly general mistake, but one that you need to put right as a matter of urgency. Some people fall into a trap when they start going to the gym – they just can’t stop. Of course, this isn’t everyone, but there are a select group which just really struggle to put a halt on things once they get going.

This might sound great; after all, you’re working out, right? Well, it’s only great to an extent. The moment you start to compromise your rest days you start asking for trouble. You start to limit the amount of time your muscles have to develop, because they are constantly working out and not having any time to regroup. Also, and this should probably go without saying, if you are not giving your muscles any time to breath it’s only a matter of time before an injury is going to sneak up on you.

As such, make sure you give yourself at least a day of rest between workouts.

Mistake #3 – Hitting lazy mode as soon as you reach home

Next on the list is something that we will have all been guilty of from time to time; hitting lazy mode as soon as we reach the front door after a gym session. Whether it’s having a movie marathon or anything else which involves you being pretty sedentary, it’s something that you need to avoid at all costs. Even though it might be tough, due to total exhaustion, there is complete reasoning behind this.

You have been working intensely, and in a bid for your body to recover accordingly you still need some blood to be pumped around your body. This means that you need to turn to some light exercise, whether it’s just walking around the office or even doing some mild stretches.

In other words, you don’t need to go overboard, but just do something to keep a bit of movement in your routine. Without this, the chances of injury increase, and your muscles will find it harder to get anywhere.

Mistake #4 – Be wary of house chores

This next mistake is one that will probably be music to your ears. Nobody likes household chores, and this next mistake is for those of you who do too many of them straight after you have done a workout.

Let’s make something clear at this point, we’re not referring to the washing up or any other minor tasks. Instead, the chores in question are those which exert significant pressure onto your body. Anything involve bending, or stretching falls into this category – so naturally any garden maintenance tasks should usually be completely off the agenda until your body has recovered.

The reason behind this is simple; your body is in a somewhat frail state after you have been to the gym. Your muscles have effectively been damaged, and they now need time to recover and develop again. By putting pressure on them through these chores, this just isn’t going to happen.

This is again one of the big reasons why you simply must incorporate rest days into your workout regimes. Any chores, like those mentioned above, need to be penned in to those rest days. Or, if you really can’t manage to carry them out on one of your “free” days, at least leave a few hours (or as much time as possible) before getting out in the garden and putting more stress on your muscles.

Mistake #5 – Not eating the right things, at the right time

We will conclude proceedings on something that you will have probably been expecting. It’s a bit of a cliché, but particularly after you have just finished working out the phrase you are what you eat couldn’t be truer. The food and drink you consume is of paramount importance and to throw some specific timings into the equation, we would recommend consuming it between 20 and 30 minutes of the conclusion of your session.

It’s at this point that you really need to think about logistics. If you’re not at home, make sure you pack plenty of healthy snacks so you can quickly dip in. These snacks need to mainly be protein-based ones, with the odd sprinkle of complex carbohydrates, so your energy is at the appropriate level. Don’t, under any circumstances, opt for fast food or any other fatty favorites. Remember, you have poured blood, sweat and tears into your last workout, the last thing you want is to put on all the calories you have just lost.

On the subject of food and drink, you will hopefully know the importance of taking in enough water. Your session is where your muscles will have become really dehydrated, so now’s the time to make up for it.

Raymond Brooks - Writer - Ray started training at age 16 and built an impressive physique for sports. He is an ACE certified personal trainer, a pro natural bodybuilder, a physique coach and has competed in multiple bodybuilding competitions.
Ray has written thousands of articles on exercise, nutrition, and health.Follow Raymond on Twitter

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